INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION FOR OUTSTANDING AMATEURS

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The winner of the 19th International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs is a gastroenterologist from Chicago, Christopher Shih, with Chopin’s Barcarolle and Liszt’s Totentanz. He also won the Audience Award and the Press Award.
Second prize went to another American, Carl di Casoli, a Ph.D. bio-statistics student at Carolina State University, with an all-French repertoire: Ravel’s Waltz and Frank's Choral Prelude and Fugue, shared by a Japanese medical student, Kuntaro Deguchi, who interpreted Rachmaninov’s Second Sonata and a contemporary composer, Shishido.
A French car importer, Cyril Porra, and an Italian engineer from Milan, Lorenzo Caprotti, won 4th and 5th prize.
The 6th finalist was a Chinese acoustics engineer from Taiwan, Felicia Cheng.

The winner, Christopher Shih, has been invited to play at the gala evening in October 2008 with the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine conducted by François Boulanger.

The Competition attracted 100 candidates from 28 countries across the globe.

The next edition of the Competition, in April 2009, will be celebrating its 20th anniversary and all the winners and finalists since 1989 will be invited to participate in a special event.

Interview with Gerard Bekerman